Food

[stripes1]

Please can you share your favourite camping recipes! First time with the kids next week and need some inspiration. Thank you!

How old are the kids? Are you campfire cooking or on a stove?
For years our first night meal has always been a pasta bolognese. Make a bigger pot of it than usual (the kids will have double appetites when they're camping) and freeze it. Then take it with you...by the time you get there and pitch it'll have defrosted. Reheat it in a large pot with a lid then add a bag of fresh pasta shapes, stir and maybe a little more water, lid back on and sort of steam the fresh pasta in the sauce. I keep adding a little more water as it needs it and then just boil off the excess liquid when the pasta is cooked. If you use fresh pasta in stead of dried as this way, it means you don't have to boil another pan at the same time.
We also take cooked chicken, ready to wok noodles, a sauce and chinese veggies. Strip chicken and stirfry it all together. Taking the cooked chicken stops me panicking about making sure there isn't raw chicken kicking around. (I'm paranoid about chicken germs).
If the kids are older... ours quite like some chorizo chopped into chunks, dry fried then drizzle some honey over at the end. This is a great afternoon nibble with some oatcakes.
Paellas, crepes with savoury or sweet filling. Take a sandwich bag with a mug of plain flour with me then add an egg and milk when you get there to make the crepes.
Take a tin or two of cooked potatoes and fry them up in a pan with chopped bacon, then add a fried egg each over the top at the end? Weirdly, this is the meal DH is happy enough to cook!!

Thanks, they are under 5 and it's on a stove. Brilliant pasta bolognase idea will try that one out first night I think.

I take a big pot of chilli for the first night to eat with baguette and maybe salad.

Barbecue is always good. Couscous is quick and easy.

Tend to avoid pasta as I find it takes ages to boil enough water. ( campingclaire's method sounds like it solves that problem though.

The dcs like stuff like sausages with baked beans. Takeaway fish and chips also a regular feature!

Eagerly watching, am off to a festival in half term with dd age 21 months, am a little worried about feeding her!

Fresh tortellini and pesto.

DS loves garlic doughballs so I put them on the barbecue in their foil tray.

Kids (and me) are always happy living off picnic food - quiche, scotch eggs, crusty bread, crisps, salad, fruit, cake.

We tend to have raw veg rather than cooked to save on fuel/time, so chopped carrots, cherry tomatoes, peppers etc.

We also take a frozen meal but to have on night number 2 as it's often still too frozen.

Orzo (rice sized pasta) can be cooked in many dishes and adds substance. Bread is also a good carb- pittas and tortilla wraps.

If you have EHU you could also take a slow cooker, we do a ham joint or one pot meals in that.

I also tend to look for other short cuts as possible- sliced/grated cheese, individual pots of yoghurts etc as very often they save on prep and washing up.

Always have an emergency meal or a tin stash- beans, soup, noodles, hot dogs, tuna, tinned ham etc.

Put any spices in tic tac containers, and don't forget things like tomato ketchup, salt and pepper etc.

We have got into the habit of having some tapas around for us if we are cooking for the kids and for us later.

We take the mini boxes of cereal and brioches which keep the kids happy even if they have a cooked brekkie later.

Save an old squash bottle and make up diluted squash to keep handy.

Loads of good camping food ideas already...I tend to make simple one/two pot meals or cook on the bbq. Curries are pretty easy to cook if you use a ready-made sauce and serve with chapatis or naans. Wraps filled with whatever your kids like, work well too.